http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheAtlantic/~3/IgJz7ahHl18/story01.htm

One of America’s most iconic and inspiring stories—Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s color line in 1947—is retold in the film 42, which opens nationally this weekend. Even if you’re not a baseball fan, the film will tug at your heart and have you rooting for Robinson to overcome the racist obstacles put in his way. It is an uplifting tale of courage and determination that is hard to resist, even though you know the outcome before the movie begins.

But despite bravura performances by relatively unknown Chadwick Boseman as Robinson and superstar Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey (the Brooklyn Dodgers’ general manager who recruited Robinson and orchestrated his transition from the Negro Leagues to the all-white Major Leagues), the film strikes out as history, because it ignores the true story of how baseball’s apartheid system was dismantled.Continue reading

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/education/edlife/bard-high-school-early-college-a-second-chance-for-disadvantaged-youth-in-newark.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

The early college high school is lauded as a way to provide low-income students with a road map to and through college. Bard’s new school also offers an escape from Newark’s mean streets.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/nyregion/a-hero-of-the-bronx-majora-carter-is-now-accused-of-betraying-it.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Majora Carter, an environmental activist who earned fame and fortune fighting for the community, is helping FreshDirect in its battle to relocate to the borough.

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/13/0401/2317/

The state Division of Civil Rights helped obtain more than $2 million in settlements over discrimination allegations in 2012. These included an $83,000 payout from the West New York Board of Education, which was accused of not providing

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/13/03/31/opinion-the-only-way-to-judge-camden-is-to-look-beyond-the-lurid-statistics/

The state’s takeover of Camden’s schools can’t deliver what’s truly needed: a real education for every student.

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/13/03/26/healthiest-counties/

Even if it’s a stretch to claim that the fight against genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is "the new civil rights movement," this is an excellent article explaining why towns and neighborhoods can’t legally say No to bad proposals. In short, it explains how the system is rigged for corporate "developers."Continue reading

[youtube http://youtube.com/w/?v=QPKKQnijnsM&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

People of color are missing from mainstream enviro groups, says the Washington Post:
http://goo.gl/cJNtW
And Lois Gibbs responds with this blog entry saying that counting heads is not enough — it’s about getting resources into the hands of those who need them most.
http://goo.gl/jTqcr
Let’s hope the funders will listen to Lois.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/23/opinion/walking-while-black-in-new-york.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Testimony in a stop-and-frisk trial has pointed to disturbing conduct by the police command.